


The Art Of Loss

by MaliceManaged



Series: Until Your World Is Mine [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Artefacts Of The Powerful Variety, Bad Parenting, But He's A Prick So No Hug, Eventual Relationships, Except He Got Caught, F/M, Feels, Gen, I Don't Even Know, Implied/Referenced Torture, Loki Does What He Wants, Loki Feels, Loki Gets a Hug, Loki Needs a Hug, Loss, Odin's A+ Parenting, On the Run, Past Child Abuse, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Post-Civil War (Marvel), Protective Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers Is a Good Bro, Thor Is Not Stupid, Unwelcome Interest, not necessarily canon compliant, past trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-18
Updated: 2016-05-30
Packaged: 2018-06-09 03:30:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 15,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6888085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaliceManaged/pseuds/MaliceManaged
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Brigit is a former superhero. Former, that is, until she receives an urgent call from a once-ally, and gets roped into a mess she never wanted any part of thanks to the curiosity of the fallen prince determined to figure her out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, this was born after a random scene popped into my head as I woke up and refused to leave until I wrote it down. The title is a song by Stream Of Passion, and it fit so perfectly with the story it seemed the perfect choice when I was trying to come up with a name.

    When Brigit’s phone woke her up from barely-coherent dreams involving zombies and talking kiwis; she wasn’t quite sure what she was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t the (in)famous Tony Stark asking for a favour. She hung up on him twice before deciding to hear him out just for the satisfaction of hearing him almost beg.

 

    It had been a long time since she had been associated with any of the Avengers save the occasional call from Steve to ask how she was doing, and her decision to leave was only enforced after the veritable disaster that was the Accords. Still, they’d been her friends once (some still were), and she took care of her friends. That thought in mind was what found her up and dressed in a violet shirt with black long wizard’s sleeves, black jeans and black boots with violet straps. She gathered her once-dark long hair, turned stark white the day her powers manifested, off of her alabaster face and into a high ponytail, her bangs framing her honey-coloured eyes, slipped her favourite silver locket onto her neck and was out of her apartment and headed to ‘Stark territory’ - as she called it - wondering just what Tony wanted from her.

 

 

    When she arrived in the building and her clearance had been sorted, she was surprised to see Thor there; in her last update from Steve regarding the god, he told her he had returned home after the mess with Ultron (yet _another_ reason she was glad to have left when she did).

 

    “Lady Brigit; it has been some time,” Thor greeted with a smile that was only slightly strained; whatever the circumstances, they had always gotten along well, and he was happy to see her.

 

    “Only because you can’t be bothered to call,” Brigit teased, walking up and jumping slightly to give the _much_ taller man a hug he gladly returned with a slight laugh.

 

    “You’re right,” He replied as they parted, “I can only beg your forgiveness.”

 

    “Ah, you know I can’t stay mad at you, Blondie,” Brigit said with a grin, “Now what brings you here? ’Cause I have a feeling it has to do with what brings _me_ here.”

 

    “It is my brother,” Thor replied with a slight frown.

 

    “Again?” Brigit blurted before she could stop herself, earning a wry laugh.

 

    “Again,” Thor echoed somewhat sombrely.

 

    Before Brigit could ask, Tony walked up to them and they headed to a meeting room where he informed her that Loki was the only one to know the location of a powerful artefact that had suddenly vanished from where it was being studied and that, unsurprisingly, the younger prince was being less than forthcoming with the information.

 

    “Okay; and what exactly does this have to do with me?” Brigit asked from her position leaning back in her seat with her legs propped up on the table.

 

    “We need you to question Loki and get him to tell you where the artefact is,” Tony replied.

 

    “What makes you think he’s going to tell _me?”_ She asked sceptically.

 

    “You are quite a bit alike in the way your minds work; I believe he will find you engaging,” Thor replied, “Not to say it will be easy, but he might cooperate with you.”

 

    Brigit hummed thoughtfully then took her feet off the table and sat up straight. “What exactly is this ‘artefact’, anyway?” She asked, “And before you say ‘it’s classified’; I’m not helping if I don’t know _exactly_ what I’m getting into.”

 

    “Relax, Bri,” Tony said, raising his hands in mock-surrender, “I haven’t forgotten why you left.” He grabbed a folder from another table. “That’s everything we know about it so far,” He said as he slid the folder over to her, “Read fast though, would you? I want this guy out of my building as soon as possible.”

 

    “Yes, _sir,_ Mister Stark,” Brigit replied with a mock salute, and Tony rolled his eyes while Thor chuckled.

 

 

    Once she’d read the files, Brigit agreed that the artefact in question (an ancient staff of as-of-yet unknown origins) probably shouldn’t be left in the hands of a possibly psychotic god, such as it was. On their way to the interrogation room where Loki was contained Thor told her as much as he could to try and prepare her for dealing with his brother, though Brigit had a feeling she would have to improvise a lot. Finally they reached the right door and she took a deep breath and schooled her face into blank professionalism.

 

    “Oh, and the door’s gonna be locked behind you for an hour,” Tony said quickly as he punched in his code and opened the door.

 

    “Wait, _what?”_ Was all Brigit had time to say before he shoved her into the room and closed the door behind her.  She turned around and slapped her open palm against the door.  “What the hell? Rude!” She huffed then turned to the control panel and tried to get it to let her out.

 

    “I’m sorry,” FRIDAY’s voice came through the speakers, “I’m not authorised to open this door at the moment.”

 

    “Great,” Brigit said sarcastically to no one in particular, “I’ve always wanted to be locked in an interrogation room. Cross _that_ off the list.”

 

    “Your fellows don’t seem to care much for your wellbeing,” Loki’s smooth voice spoke up from behind her, causing her to turn around and look at him for the first time.

 

    “What makes you say that?” She asked, tilting her head to the side slightly.

 

    “Well; they’ve locked you in here with _me,”_ He replied, placing a hand on the table before him, “Someone they _know_ to be more than a little dangerous, given our history.”

 

    “Maybe they’re just confident in my abilities; did you think of that?” She asked, placing her hands on her hips.

 

    Loki grinned, apparently quite amused by the question. “If that helps your peace of mind,” He said, clearly not thinking much of her.

 

    “Well, _that’s_ not condescending at all!” She replied with a sarcastic cheeriness that he raised an eyebrow slightly at as she walked over to the table; she grabbed the back of her chair then flipped it over and straddled it, looping her elbows around the corners of the back rest before crossing her arms to rest her chin on them. “I don’t suppose you’ll make this easy by just telling me where the artefact is?” She asked, tilting the chair forward to lean closer to the table.

 

    “Now, why would I do that?” Loki asked back somewhat amusedly.

 

    “Yeah, I didn’t think so. But it’s gotta work _some_ time,” She said with a shrug then let the chair fall back onto it four legs with a slight bang, eyeing him with slightly narrowed eyes, “Might be in your best interest, though. Sure, information like this can be leverage, but there’s always a chance someone’s going to want it badly enough to not ask nicely...”

 

    At that Loki leaned forward. “I don’t break easily,” He said with a smirk, “And, despite the fact that I don’t do it half as much as people assume; I am _very_ good at lying.”

 

    “Is that so?” She asked, returning his smirk with a more subtle one of her own, “I’ve always found the best lies are the ones smothered in truth; the trick is singling out what isn’t.” Loki blinked, looking a little impressed, and she couldn’t help the warm fluttering of pride that blossomed in her heart. “What exactly is it that you want?” She asked, pushing the feeling aside, “You’re already in here; your leverage can only go so far at this point.”

 

    “Perhaps,” Loki replied with an acquiescent nod, “But as it stands; your people are empty-handed.” He placed his forearms on the table and clasped his fingers together. “I believe you have an expression; ‘a glass half full’?” He said with an indulgent smile that looked entire too good on him than should be legal as far as she was concerned.

 

    “Hmph; now that just says ‘desperation’ to me,” She said, causing his smile to disappear, “You know you can’t win; so you won’t lose.”

 

    “That’s a little contradictory, isn’t it?” Loki said coolly, leaning back on his seat to sit up straight.

 

    “Is it?” She said and leaned forward again, “Say two men are having a dispute over a piece of land. One realises he can’t win; so he burns the field, poisons it, whatever, making it useless to them both. He didn’t win, but neither did the other guy, so he didn’t lose. It’s petty, sure, but not contradictory.”

 

    Loki regarded her for a moment then broke into a wide grin. “Oh, I like you...” He said, decidedly more interested in the conversation now.

 

    Maybe getting caught hadn’t been such a bad thing, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a rendition of Brigit I made using an online dollmaker: [Brigit](http://tinyurl.com/z4qn68e)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little note: I actually have the next chapter written but not proof read, but it won't be up until next Monday at the earliest; I'll be attending the local comic convention and won't be home all weekend. Sorry for the delay, but I occasionally do need to go outside.

    It wasn’t often that Loki was intrigued by those around him anymore, let alone impressed, and when the mortal before him walked into the room she wasn’t an exception to that. He _had_ been mildly curious when he heard they had locked her in the room with him and she at best seemed annoyed by the fact, not at all afraid as he would have expected; when she sat down - in so utterly and amusingly unlady-like a fashion - he’d felt a distinct thrumming of energy from her and realised she might not be as defenceless as he’d assumed. When they actually began to speak, Loki realised why she’d been the one sent in to talk to him. There was clearly more to this woman than met the eye, and he was _most certainly_ intrigued.

 

    “I’m flattered,” Brigit said flatly, though he could tell she wasn’t displeased, merely showing him she wouldn’t be so easily swayed.

 

    He could respect that. After all, half the fun of a hunt is the chase.

 

    “To answer your question,” Loki began, still smiling, “What I want is my freedom...”

 

    “That could be tricky,” Brigit replied, “‘My people’, as you called them, aren’t exactly known for letting persons of interest go.”

 

    “They let _you_ go,” Loki said, and was satisfied when a flash of surprise crossed her face.

 

    “I’m not their enemy,” Brigit countered.

 

    “Neither am I, at present,” Loki replied, spreading his arms out in front of him as though to illustrate his point, “Or did they not wonder why it was even possible for them to capture me?” He grinned again, as though recalling a fond memory. “Really, you’d think they would learn after the _last_ time,” He commented lightly.

 

    “Oh, no; you didn’t want to be caught _this_ time,” Brigit said assuredly then leaned forward until the back of the chair rested against the table with a grin stretching her full lips that he stared at maybe a little too long, “You slipped up.”

 

    Her words brought his emerald eyes back to her amber ones, and he debated whether to deny her conclusion or not. “... You’re observant,” He said at length, deciding on honesty for the moment, “No; I didn’t intend to be caught, I was unfortunately distracted.”

 

    “So what is you want freedom from?” Brigit asked, catching him by surprise again, “Because it’s nothing from _this_ world...”

 

    “My brother put you up to this, did he not?” Loki said instead, tilting his head to the side a bit, “The others would not have thought of it. I suspect he expects us to relate enough that I’ll be more compliant. Am I wrong?”

 

    Brigit smiled again. “You are not,” She replied.

 

    “He certainly isn’t the idiot he used to be,” Loki commented, sounding almost _proud_ of the fact.

 

    “I wouldn’t know,” Brigit said with a slight shrug, “I’ve always known him to be like he is.”

 

    “Lucky you,” Loki replied a little irritably, no doubt remembering the ‘good’ old days, and then eyed her in a calculating manner, “What will you do if your hour is up and you don’t find the answers you were sent here to seek?”

 

    “I walk out and get breakfast,” Brigit replied simply.

 

    “You would walk away from this?” Loki asked with a raised eyebrow.

 

    “This isn’t my problem,” She replied, leaning back and letting the chair drop back upright with a louder bang than before, “I’m just here as a favour to a once-friend.”

 

    “Are you not a ‘hero’?” Loki asked almost mockingly, “I was under the impression heroes don’t walk away from a potentially dangerous situation, particularly when there could be innocent lives on the line.”

 

    “I’m not a hero,” Brigit replied in a hard tone, and he knew he’d struck a nerve.

 

    “But you were, once,” He guessed, “What happened, I wonder?” He leaned forward and eyed her intently. “Did you lose someone?” He asked, a malicious smile stretching his lips when she tensed almost unperceptively, “You did... A friend, perhaps? A sibling? ... A lover?”

 

    Brigit’s jaw clenched and her irises flashed an almost-glowing white for a second before she stood abruptly and stormed over to the door, pressing the panel to open it harshly only for it to beep in error.

 

    “Our hour isn’t finished yet,” Loki said somewhat smugly, halting momentarily when he realised he didn’t actually know her name but quickly covering it with disinterest, “Mortal.”

 

    “I’d be less happy about that if I were you,” Brigit warned coldly.

 

    “Oh, but I’m rather enjoying this,” Loki replied amusedly, “It’s a pity; I thought you might be different from the rest of your dull species, but I guess I was wrong. In the end you’re just as predictable.”

 

    “Oh, how _observant_ you are,” Brigit began mockingly, “I’m sure your mother must be so _proud.”_ At that all amusement fled from his features and he levelled an icy glare at her. “Oh, I’m sorry; did I strike a nerve?” She added, returning his glare with just as much venom.

 

    “That is _dangerous_ territory, _mortal,”_ He spat icily.

 

    “And it works both ways, _runt,”_ She spat back, once again catching him off guard.

 

    Oh, he was going to _kill_ Thor.

 

    “Duly noted,” He relented tonelessly, deciding to keep his temper in check for the moment.

 

    Brigit chewed on her tongue for a moment then slowly walked back to the chair and sat down as she had before. “So,” She began, her tone slightly clipped, “What are you running from?”

 

    “Not your concern,” Loki replied, matching her tone, “It doesn’t involve you, and you have no sway over the situation.”

 

    Brigit tilted her head to the side thoughtfully. “Your father- sorry... _former_ father, then?” She asked, crossing her arms over the back of the chair.

 

    “... You’re very informed,” Loki muttered, clearly displeased by the fact.

 

    “Thor’s a chatty drunk,” She replied simply.

 

    “Some things never change,” He said, annoyed, rolling his eyes and she smiled slightly.

 

    “I’m right, aren’t I?” She asked, and he thought about it for a moment before nodding sharply once, “Can’t say I blame you.” His brows furrowed and he looked at her as though thinking he’d misheard. “What, you think you’re the only one who’s ever had a neglectful parent?” She said with a slight snort, “Please. Join the club; we meet every Friday.”

 

    Loki tried, and failed spectacularly, to hold back an amused huff of a laugh. He had to admit (privately, of course), his previous impression of her had been correct; she _was_ different. If circumstances were different, he might indulge his curiosity, but as it was, his time was rather limited. Still...

 

    “What is your name?” He asked, regarding her with interest.

 

    “Mm; I don’t think you’ve earned that yet,” Brigit replied conversationally.

 

    “But I must call you _something,”_ Loki tried, “Unless you prefer ‘mortal’...”

 

    Brigit mulled it over for a moment. “You can call me Opal,” She said at last.

 

    “Hmm; curious choice,” Loki said, “I’m guessing it relates to whatever abilities you possess?”

 

    “It does; yes,” Brigit replied vaguely with a nod.

 

    “Very well, Opal,” Loki said with a slight nod of consideration, deciding not to pry further for the moment, “The truth of the matter is, I don’t _need_ the staff to evade Odin; it simply conveniently came into my possession, so I figured why _not_ use it.”

 

    “And you’ll, what, tell me where it is in exchange for them letting you go?” Brigit asked with slight scepticism, doubting it’d be that simple.

 

    “Oh, no,” Loki replied with a half-smile at her tone, leaning towards her, “I’ll _show_ you.” His smile widened into a more mischievous grin. “But _only_ you...” He added.

 

    After all, why settle for only _one_ thing he wanted, when he could have both?

 

    Brigit frowned, not happy at the thought of getting even more involved in this. “I’ll have to get back to you on that,” She said with a hint of annoyance, knowing full well she didn’t really have much of a choice.

 

    She stood and walked to the door, not at all surprised that it opened this time, and then followed the person (at least, she _thought_ he was a person) waiting for her outside to the room where Tony and Thor had been monitoring the conversation.

 

    “Oh, Bri; meet Vision,” Tony said a bit distractedly as they walked in.

 

    “Hello,” The android said politely with a slight nod, and Brigit hummed distractedly in response.

 

    “Well, that was bit unexpected,” Tony said as he stared at Loki, who was looking decidedly bored, through the monitor, “Didn’t think he’d agree that fast.”

 

    “So you’re really just going to let him go in exchange for the staff?” Brigit asked.

 

    “’Course not, but he doesn’t need to know that,” Tony replied with a scoff.

 

    “You really think he’s not going to figure it out?” Brigit asked sceptically, crossing her arms at her chest and arching an eyebrow.

 

    “Not if you’re convincing enough,” Tony replied with a wink.

 

    And _there_ it was.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Con was fun; bought stuff, sold stuff, cosplayed for the first time finally, and my feet hate me and I woke up to a cold this morning. Worth it.

    Brigit didn’t have many regrets in her life so far, but she infinitely regretted having answered her phone that morning as she changed into the white and grey suit she wore when she had been an Avenger, tied her hair back into a long braid running down her back then adjusted the mask over her mouth and nose. Her locket she entrusted to them for safekeeping under threat of a very drawn out death should anything happen to it. She didn’t want to be involved in these things anymore, and she thought she had made that clear enough before she left, but clearly nobody cared. The only one who seemed to regret dragging her into it was Thor, and he was the only reason she had agreed in the end; she felt she owed him that for using the memory of his mother against Loki, even if she _had_ been provoked into it. Thor had said that he understood when she had apologised, given her circumstances, but he was like an open book to her and she could tell it bothered him greatly.

 

    Sometimes, she really missed the days when she was alone in the world.

 

    As she walked over to the landing pad where the quinjet they would be taking was waiting, she saw Loki, who was examining the tracking device that had been placed around his wrist as part of the many conditions of his temporary release. He looked up when she reached him and then examined her top to bottom with a little more interest than she was altogether comfortable with before smirking.

 

    “Interesting outfit,” He commented in what would be called a flirtatious manner, if she weren’t adamantly pretending it was _not,_ “It suits you.”

 

    “Just get in the jet,” Brigit said stiffly, narrowing her now-white eyes at him, causing him to laugh.

 

    “Not very fond of compliments, are you?” He teased easily.

 

    “Do forgive me if I take offence at being ogled like a piece of meat,” Brigit retorted with dry sarcasm, “Clearly, I’m in the wrong here; now get in the damn jet.”

 

    “As you wish,” Loki replied with mock seriousness, bowing slightly, and then turned and boarded the jet behind him.

 

 

    Once they were in the air and on their way to the coordinates Loki had provided (which were, of course, only in the very general vicinity of where he’d left the staff), conversation was at a minimum and consisted entirely of Loki trying to goad Brigit into acknowledging him. So far, he was unsuccessful.

 

    This did not please him. At all.

 

    “Come now, Opal; I thought we were making progress,” Loki said, earning an eye roll he couldn’t see, “You’re not still upset about my comment on your outfit, are you?”

 

    “For the love of all that’s holy and several things not; will you _please_ just _shut up!”_ Brigit finally snapped, taking advantage of the autopilot to turn in her seat and face him, “No, I don’t give a damn about your so-called ‘compliment’; I hear worse than that every goddamned day!”

 

    “I can imagine,” Loki chimed with a smirk.

 

    “If you _must_ know, the reason I’m ignoring you is because if I don’t, I have to face that you’re the reason I’m in this mess,” Brigit continued as though he hadn’t spoken, “The kind of mess I had very successfully avoided for _five years!_ If I _don’t_ ignore you, I might just _kill_ you; and I don’t need that kind of trouble.”

 

    Loki considered her words for a moment then tilted his head to the side thoughtfully. “What happened between you and the Avengers?” He asked curiously, as though she hadn’t just threatened his life.

 

    “Nothing that concerns you,” Brigit replied shortly before turning around to face forward again.

 

    The rest of the flight was made in silence, with Loki thinking of ways that he could learn her story and Brigit going back to pretending he wasn’t there, with the added bonus of trying not to think about what he’d asked. She knew perfectly well denial wouldn’t make it go away; she just didn’t particularly give a damn right now. She could worry about how badly she handled her grief _after_ getting Tony his stupid staff and ridding herself of Loki. Though she suspected that last one wasn’t going to be so easy.

 

 

    When they landed Brigit found herself grateful for the fact that she was practically immune to the cold, as their surroundings were blanketed in deep snow as far as she could see. Loki noticed her lack of shivering curiously but chose not to comment on it, figuring she probably wouldn’t tell him if he asked anyway.

 

    “So, where are we going?” Brigit asked.

 

    “So eager to get rid of me?” Loki asked back humorously.

 

    “I don’t think you want me to answer that,” She replied pointedly.

 

    “You wound me,” He said, placing a hand over his heart with a look of feigned hurt.

 

    “I should be so lucky,” She retorted and he laughed.

 

    “It’s this way,” He said, gesturing grandly with his arm to his right before turning and beginning to walk, Brigit close behind him.

 

    The more they walked, the more Brigit began to think he’d been lying when he said he’d take her to where the artefact was; and her suspicions were apparently proven correct when she noticed a large cracked rock they had passed some ten minutes prior. She flexed a hand, calling on her power, and raised it towards him. Loki sensed a sudden change in the atmosphere and turned around with barely enough time to dodge several floating orbs of colourful light that she sent at him. He had no idea what the orbs did, but he wasn’t too eager to find out.

 

    “Why the hell are we walking in circles?” Brigit snapped, summoning more orbs around her hands.

 

    “It’s not what you think,” Loki replied, raising his hands in surrender and eyeing the orbs a bit warily.

 

    “You have thirty seconds to explain,” Brigit warned.

 

    “I was stalling until I could get rid of this,” Loki replied, holding his wrist where the tracker was placed towards her to demonstrate, “I know perfectly well your allies-”

 

    “ _Former_ allies,” Brigit interrupted angrily.

 

    “ _Former_ allies,” Loki amended, “I know they have no intention of letting me go after they have the staff.”

 

    Brigit glared at him for a moment longer before making the orbs disappear. “Thor and I figured you’d know,” She said then eyed him questioningly, “You think you can get rid of the tracker?”

 

    “I _know_ I can,” He corrected her, slightly indignant that she doubted his abilities, “Given enough time.”

 

    Brigit crossed her arms at her chest, thinking, and then turned and walked to the rock and sat down. “You have about ten minutes before they start wondering why we stopped moving,” She said casually, crossing one leg over the other.

 

    “You would knowingly and willingly let me roam free?” Loki asked almost incredulously.

 

    “I don’t even want to _be_ here, Loki,” Brigit replied indifferently, “I don’t give a damn where you go after this; I just want it done.”

 

    Loki eyed her oddly for a moment longer then decided to continue working on the tracker, growing more and more curious about this strange woman with every passing minute. Finally, he succeeded in disabling the bothersome device and they continued on quickly, trying to put as much distance between them and it as possible before the others noticed what had happened.

 

    This time as they walked Brigit noticed they were actually making progress, though she still had her doubts that this would be over as quickly and easily as she hoped. It probably didn’t help that she was technically aiding the enemy by letting Loki get rid of the tracker, but she could think of a million and one explanations for that that the others would believe, so she didn’t really worry about it. She felt eyes on her and looked over to find that Loki was staring at her.

 

    “What?” She asked, eyebrow raised.

 

    “I apologise for my comments this morning,” He said softly, surprising her, “I made light of whatever loss you have suffered simply to get a reaction out of you; I should not have done that.”

 

    Brigit’s chest clenched painfully at the reminder and she looked away, saying nothing for a long while. “I’m sorry I brought up your mother,” She finally said, looking back at him to see his expression mirror her earlier one, “That was wrong.”

 

    “But deserved,” Loki added a bit guiltily.

 

    “Why don’t we just agree that we were both pricks, and leave it at that?” Brigit suggested wryly, holding out her hand to him.

 

    Loki breathed a laugh then shook her hand. “Deal,” He agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's Opal's outfit, made with an online dollmaker: [Opal](http://tinyurl.com/h8hshmm)


	4. Chapter 4

    Tony didn’t know whether to be worried, or pissed off. Or, assuming the latter, _who_ to be pissed off _at._

 

    It had been twenty minutes since the tracker they placed on Loki stopped transmitting; they had, of course, looked in the last place the signal came from, but found nothing. Thor was worried about his brother and his friend, dearly hoping Loki hadn’t actually _hurt_ Brigit just to escape; Tony was worried she had _helped_ him. As much as he didn’t want to think about it, it just _fit._ She hadn’t wanted to be involved in any of this; if Loki managed to convince her it was better to help him, she might very well agree. He hadn’t missed how she’d sympathised with the god over their ‘daddy issues’; given her own family history, it really wasn’t that surprising.

 

    Still, would she actually _betray_ her friends?

 

    _Former friends,_ he corrected himself; she had made it perfectly clear she didn’t consider most of the team among that list anymore save for Steve and Thor. Of course he didn’t blame her, after what happened, but he certainly wasn’t going to let that stop him from taking her down if she _had_ joined Loki. He just hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

 

    “Here!” Thor called a short ways away.

 

    “Find something?” Tony asked as he headed over.

 

    “Aye,” Thor replied, “I may never have been any good at seidr-wielding even if I’d wanted to be, but I would recognise the trace of it anywhere.” He indicated forward, hammer in hand. “That way,” He said, and they continued on.

 

    Tony _really_ hoped he was wrong.

 

 

    “Okay, I understand caution,” Brigit began as she tried to keep up with Loki, which was proving a bit difficult seeing as he was taller than her and she was _not_ very used to walking in snow while he seemed perfectly at home in it; which made sense, she supposed, all things considered, “But did you _really_ have to land the jet so damn far?”

 

    “Tired?” Loki called back amusedly, looking back at her over his shoulder with a smile that made her want to punch him _badly._

 

    “Annoyed,” She called back irritably, “And rethinking this whole thing for the thousandth time.”

 

    Loki slowed down to give her the chance to catch up, having entirely too much fun watching her struggle. It was childish, he knew, but it’s not like there was anyone around to call him out on it. Just as she reached him, Brigit slipped on a patch of ice he had avoided and stumbled forward, unable to catch herself in time. She closed her eyes to avoid getting snow in them and braced herself for a fall that never came; slowly she opened her eyes to find herself face to face with Loki’s chest, his hands on her upper arms to keep her steady. She glanced up to his face to see him staring at her with a barely-there smile.

 

    “And here I thought you were observant,” He teased, helping her stand up straight.

 

    “Oh, bite me,” Brigit retorted as she stepped away.

 

    “Is that a challenge, or an offer?” He asked suggestively with a grin.

 

    Brigit blinked once, twice, and then quite suddenly burst out laughing, doubling over and placing her hands on her knees to try and keep herself upright. After a while she managed to start calming down, but then she looked up at him and started laughing all over again.

 

    When she finally managed to stop laughing they continued walking, although occasionally she would start giggling again. Loki was beginning to wonder just why she seemed to find what he said so funny, but in the end decided it was probably better not to ask and just go along with it. At least she wasn’t angry anymore. After another while of walking in silence, he could no longer ignore another curiosity and turned to Brigit, who stopped just short of bumping into him and looked at him questioningly.

 

    “How are you not cold?” Loki asked suddenly.

 

    “Who says I’m not?” Brigit challenged.

 

    “No,” Loki replied, narrowing his eyes in suspicion, “You could try to resist the effects, but in the end your body would betray you. We’ve been walking for over an hour and you’re not even shivering.”

 

    “Alright, you caught me,” Brigit conceded, raising her hands in surrender before placing them on her hips, “I don’t really _get_ cold. And before you ask: No, I don’t know why; probably my powers.”

 

    “Interesting...” Loki mused, mostly to himself.

 

    “No; it’s not,” Brigit said firmly, “You’re not going to be around me long enough for it to be interesting.”

 

    “I wouldn’t be so sure,” Loki replied with a mischievous smirk.

 

    “No; I _will_ be so sure,” Brigit began, narrowing her eyes into a slight glare, “The _only_ reason I agreed to this is because Thor asked me to do it; now we are going to get that staff, you are going to go wherever the hell you will, I am going to bring the damn thing back and then I’m going to go home and move on with what’s left of my life. Is that clear?”

 

    For a moment Loki merely stared at her, and then he tilted his head a bit to the side in apparent thought. “Has anyone ever told you you’re quite lovely when you’re angry?” He asked with what she supposed might be a charming smile, if she didn’t want to murder him so much at the moment.

 

    “Okay; we’re done,” Brigit deadpanned then turned and started walking away.

 

    Loki blinked, not quite expecting that. “You’re just going to leave?” He asked incredulously, beginning to follow her, “You don’t have the staff yet.”

 

    “I don’t give a damn,” Brigit called back angrily, “No staff is worth this!”

 

    “Opal; I was only teasing,” Loki said as he caught up to her easily, and she could have sworn he _almost_ sounded _pleading,_ “Well, it was _true,_ but I was.”

 

    Brigit stopped suddenly and turned around to face him, causing him to back up a step so as not to crash into her. “Loki; what the hell do you want from me?” She asked, sounding well and truly _fed up,_ “You could have brought _anyone else_ with you; why me?”

 

    “I’m curious about you,” Loki replied simply with a slight shrug.

 

    “So get my number and call me, like a _normal person!”_ Brigit exclaimed, throwing her hands up exasperatedly, “You didn’t have to drag me into this mess.”

 

    “You would have willingly interacted with me had I simply asked?” Loki asked sceptically, crossing his arms over his chest.

 

    _“Yes!”_ Brigit half-yelled.

 

    Loki frowned and looked down, brows furrowing. “I hadn’t considered that...” He muttered.

 

    “Oh, my-!” Brigit began then stopped, closed her eyes and took a deep breath, slowly exhaling it before she looked at him again.

 

    “In my defence; you _are_ Thor’s friend,” Loki said somewhat pointedly, “Thor’s friends usually hate me.”

 

    “I’d never even met you; how could I hate you?” Brigit asked, eyeing him oddly.

 

    “I could think of several reasons...” Loki muttered.

 

    “If you mean the New York thing; I never said I didn’t hate what you _did,”_ Brigit countered, “But that’s quite a step from hating you as a person. Especially given what Thor’s told me about you.”

 

    Loki hesitated for a moment before regarding her with a guarded expression. “And that would be...?” He asked cautiously, not entirely sure he really wanted the answer.

 

    “That you were both a nightmare to raise, for starters,” Brigit replied with an amused snort then let out a full blown laugh at his surprised expression, “What’d you _think_ he was going to say about you?”

 

    “...Nothing good,” Loki admitted softly, looking away.

 

    Brigit sighed softly, realising now what Thor had meant during one of their conversations about his brother. “He does still love you, you know,” She said, causing him to send her a disbelieving sideways glance, “He may not _like_ you all the time, a feeling which is _clearly_ mutual, but he does love you.”

 

    Loki was quiet for a long while, thinking her words over, and then he looked back at her with a blank expression. “We should continue,” He said neutrally, “No doubt they’re looking for us, and it’s not much farther.”

 

    Brigit laughed humourlessly, shaking her head. “You are every bit as stubborn as he said you were,” She commented then gestured with one hand, “Lead the way.”

 

    Loki tried not to think too much about Brigit’s words as they walked, but he couldn’t help it; part of him was angry at Thor for discussing him with a complete stranger without his consent (some details more than others), but part of him was actually... _glad_ his brother still cared enough to feel the need to. He frowned at the thought.

 

    This was _not_ part of the plan.


	5. Chapter 5

    With all that Brigit had seen in her short twenty-six years of life, it no longer surprised her just how quickly a situation could turn unfavourable; at this point it mostly just annoyed her.

 

    The staff - forged from an almost luminous dark metal-like material with a smooth polished gem at the tip that resembled smoky quartz, and was almost as tall as she was - was in Loki’s hands, and he seemed to have every intention of handing it over. That _was,_ of course, until Thor and Tony arrived, the latter aiming his hand blasters at Loki.

 

    “Drop it,” Tony said shortly.

 

    Loki looked down at the staff then back up at Tony, a rather menacing smile forming on his lips. “You know, now that I have it; I don’t think I _want_ to let it go,” He replied somewhat casually.

 

    “Either drop it, or we make you,” Tony threatened.

 

    Loki’s smile widened and before Brigit could react, he moved behind her and wrapped his arm around her neck, pulling her back against him with just enough force to make breathing rather difficult. “Would you be willing to go through _her,_ I wonder?” He asked tauntingly, lifting Brigit so that only the tips of her boots brushed the snow.

 

    “Loki, let her go!” Thor demanded, voice somewhere between angry and disappointed.

 

    “Oh, I will,” Loki replied, furiously ignoring how much the latter managed to bother him, “When I’m done...”

 

    With that, Loki raised the staff then brought it down onto the snow with force; a bright silver light enveloped them and Thor lunged, trying to stop their escape, but was too late. When the flash died out, they were gone.

 

 

    The moment their feet were back on solid ground Loki released Brigit, who stumbled forward coughing and gasping for breath. She turned around and called on her power, throwing several orbs at Loki, but her vision was a little blurry and her aim was way off even if he hadn’t anticipated the attack and dodged.

 

    “Opal; there’s no need for this,” Loki said, dodging another, better aimed, attack.

 

    “The hell there isn’t!” Brigit snapped hoarsely, misdirecting him with a few orbs sent in his current direction while throwing a few more to where she guessed he might dodge.

 

    Loki hissed in pain when a few globes reached his arm, bursting upon contact with his sleeve and burning right through the fabric and to his skin underneath. “I apologise for choking you,” He said through half-gritted teeth, “But I needed you too distracted to use your power.”

 

    “This is supposed to make me _not_ want to kill you??” She asked incredulously, preparing another attack.

 

    “Just hear me out,” Loki said, making no move to defend himself in the hope that it would convince her he wasn’t currently a threat, “Give me a chance to explain.”

 

    Brigit thought it over for a moment then lowered her hands, keeping the orbs floating around them just in case. “Fine,” She said coolly, “Explain.”

 

    “I needed to escape, and you couldn’t simply leave with me or they would know you helped me,” Loki began, earning an angry huff, “By ‘kidnapping’ you, it absolves you of any suspicion. After all, they already think the worst of me; it wouldn’t be that far off to believe you to be a victim in this.”

 

    “I didn’t have to come with you at all,” Brigit said, placing a hand on her hip, the orbs following to float in wider circles around her, “You could have just attacked me and left, with the same results.”

 

    “I _could_ have done that,” Loki conceded, “But I didn’t want to.”

 

    “Why not? Why did you bring me?” Brigit pressed. When Loki didn’t reply she glared at him, her hand curling into a fist, making the orbs glow a bit brighter. “Just _tell me!”_ She snapped impatiently.

 

    “I already did,” Loki replied, trying to shove the memory that sprung up suddenly in his mind as far back as he could, “Back in that interrogation room.”

 

    Brigit blinked. “You...” She began then stopped and looked down for a moment then back up at him, “You’ve quite possibly made me an accessory in whatever comes of this...” She gestured vaguely to the staff still in his hand, “Because you _like me?”_

 

    Loki frowned slightly. “Well, when you say it that way, it does sound a bit unreasonable,” He half-muttered.

 

    “You _think?”_ Brigit said sarcastically.

 

    “I suppose I’m a bit out of practice at this,” Loki said with a hint of embarrassment, “I don’t exactly have a lot of friends.”

 

    “Really; I couldn’t tell,” Brigit deadpanned as she made her orbs disappear.

 

    Loki tried and failed to keep a corner of his lips from turning upwards. “So,” He said after a moment, “Do you still wish to kill me?”

 

    Brigit pretended to give it some thought, staying silent long enough to make him consider actually apologising, and then grinned. “A little bit less than most people,” She replied lightly.

 

    Loki would never admit to the sheer relief he felt at that moment.

 

 

    Tony and Thor searched for the better part of two hours with no success; clearly Loki had figured out how they had found him and had taken steps to prevent it from happening again.

 

    On the ‘bright’ side; Tony knew now who to be pissed off at.

 

    He spent most of the search internally berating himself for doubting Brigit. She might not be an Avenger or even like to call herself a hero anymore, but principles like the ones she always held were hard to let go of, much less do a 180° on them; sympathy for Loki’s issues were not going to be enough to make her join him in whatever he was planning.

 

    He felt guilty. Maybe if he hadn’t gone in with the assumption that Brigit had turned on them, Loki wouldn’t have had the opportunity to grab her in the first place. He should have just shot first; he’d had the chance, but he hadn’t taken it for fear of her getting in the way. Now he was sure she wouldn’t have. And now she was gone, all because he doubted her.

 

    Yes; Tony knew _exactly_ who to be pissed at.

 

 

    After they had reached their understanding, Loki had used the staff to take them to Brigit’s house, figuring they’d be safe there for a while at least, as it would likely be the last place the Avengers would look. He looked around as Brigit walked off into her bedroom to change, wandering over to a display cabinet; on the shelves were a few porcelain figurines of dragons and faeries, a sketch of her and another woman signed by Rogers, a glass sculpture he recognised as polished lighting-struck sand, and several framed pictures, mostly of Brigit with Thor and/or Rogers (he noticed some seemed to be cropped and concluded they once had more of the team in them) though there were a few of a very beautiful young woman with short dark hair and hazel eyes he realised was the same from the sketch.

 

    “Her name was Amaia,” Brigit said softly as she walked up beside him, now dressed in jeans and a loose-fitting black blouse, “She was my wife.”

 

    “I’m sorry,” Loki said, not missing the sadness and longing in her voice.

 

    Brigit huffed a humourless laugh. “So are a lot of people,” She said almost tonelessly.

 

    Loki reached forward and picked up a photo of her with Thor; he was carrying her on his back, her arms wrapped around his shoulders, and they were laughing. “You’re close to my brother,” He more stated that asked.

 

    “Not as much since I left, since he’s been busy, but yeah,” Brigit replied, taking the photo from his hand and looking at it with a fond smile, “He and Steve are the only reason I kept going after...”

 

     She couldn’t bring herself to finish, her smile slipping away, and then she put the picture back in its place. For a while neither of them spoke, and then Loki picked up the glass sculpture, turning it over in his hands as he examined it closely.

 

    “Mai gave that to me for our second anniversary,” Brigit explained, “After she... _borrowed_ Thor for a few hours.”

 

    Loki hummed. “I’d say she must have been persuasive,” He replied with a small smile, placing the sculpture back on the shelf, “But I can’t imagine it took much convincing.”

 

    “Well, she was,” Brigit laughed, “But, no, it didn’t. Your brother is an absolute pushover.”

 

    “Very useful for shifting the blame on certain occasions...” Loki said with a grin, remembering moments long past.

 

    Brigit laughed again, thinking back to the stories Thor had told her about his childhood when Loki got him in trouble for his own pranks. “At the risk of sounding like I’m actually starting to like you,” She said with a playful grin, “Would you like a drink?”

 

    Loki let out a laugh. “At the risk of sounding pleased at such a prospect,” He replied, matching her grin, “Yes, I would.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun Fact brought to you by an ADHD-fuelled internet adventure!: 'Amaia' means 'the end' in Basque.


	6. Chapter 6

    If Loki wasn’t so determined to be mad at Thor, he would probably thank him as he drank the cup of asgardian wine Brigit had given him, which happened to be his favourite and that he hadn’t be able to get for quite some time; she told him she got it from Thor after he lost a bet to outdrink Rogers (she confessed to have cheated to ensure her victory, but wouldn’t tell Loki how). He _had_ been surprised that she could actually drink more than a few sips, but she had as much of an explanation for it as she did for her tolerance for the cold.

 

    It was in the course of that conversation that Loki learned Brigit didn’t know half as much about herself as he would have assumed; she didn’t know how or how extensively her powers had changed her, and simply blamed all of her abnormalities on it.

 

    “Have they never been studied?” He asked as she refilled his glass for the... tenth or eleventh time... he wasn’t actually sure, “I would have thought many would jump at the opportunity.”

 

    “Oh, it’s been tried,” Brigit replied, “But, see; I have this _thing_ against being dissected. Silly, I know, but there it is.”

 

    Loki chuckled a bit. “You must have learned to control them fast,” He reasoned, taking a drink, “At least enough to hide.”

 

    “I did, yeah,” Brigit replied, draining what was left in her cup before refilling it, “Had the more destructive aspects of it mostly handled by the time I was fourteen.”

 

    “‘More destructive’?” Loki asked curiously, “What else can you do with them?”

 

    Brigit thought about it for a moment then mentally shrugged. “Give me your arm,” She said, indicating the arm she had burned before.

 

    Loki hesitated for a moment, not quite sure if he should trust her with his injury. It still hurt quite a bit and he knew would take longer to heal - being as susceptible to burns as he was - so he had simply resolved to ignore the pain until it did. In the end, whether it was the wine lowering his defences or the honesty in Brigit’s face, he held out his arm to her waiting hands.

 

    Brigit looked down at the burn, on his bicep just above his elbow, and held one of her hands over it; her eyes turned that odd glowing white as she called on her power and a few tiny orbs appeared between her fingers. They floated down as she lowered her hand and then seemed to dissolve into his skin; Loki felt a pleasantly warm sensation spread over the wound then cool, and when she lifted her hand away he saw the burn had been completely healed.

 

    Loki examined his arm for a moment then looked up at Brigit to find a small smile gracing her lips. “That’s a very useful skill,” He commended, clearly impressed.

 

    “Be even more useful if I were any better at it,” Brigit replied with a slight shrug, “As it stands, I can only heal pretty minor injuries without much effort, and slightly more serious ones if I concentrate enough.”

 

    “Practice would likely fix that,” Loki pointed out, draining his cup again then looking at it as though slightly surprised it was empty.

 

    “True,” Brigit said, giggling slightly at the look on his face before reaching over to refill his cup, “But I don’t exactly have a line of volunteers waiting to practice _on.”_

 

    “How much of this do you _have?”_ Loki asked, taking a smaller sip than previously.

 

    “Ohh...” Brigit replied, placing a finger on her lips in thought, “’Bout ten cases. I didn’t actually count them; I was too busy gloating.”

 

    “Oh, I am never letting him live this down,” Loki said with a laugh that quickly died out when he fully processed his words. He looked down into his cup for a moment then drained it in one gulp and held it out to her. “If you wouldn’t mind,” He said with a well-practiced forced lightness to his voice.

 

    “I think we’ve _both_ had enough,” Brigit said, draining the last of hers.

 

    “I disagree,” Loki replied then reached forward and grabbed the bottle, refilling his cup then holding the bottle up to her in offering.

 

    Brigit looked at it for a moment. “Oh, what the hell,” She said with a shrug then held her cup out for him to refill.

 

 

    Brigit had learned pretty early into their friendship that Thor _really_ liked to talk after a few drinks too many (she _may_ or may not have exploited this fact once or twice), but she had quickly found that the Thunderer had nothing on his brother; after going through several bottles of her ill-gotten gains, it was as though the floodgates had opened and there was no stopping them. A part of her hoped that Loki wouldn’t remember any of it in the morning, as she was pretty sure he was telling her things he didn’t want anyone to know.

 

    Still; she listened, and learned. She learned about how he felt about his life and the people in it. She learned about things he’d suffered, some of which she was sure she’d have nightmares about. She learned about things he had done, both ones he was glad for and ones he regretted. She learned of things he _hadn’t_ done but was still blamed for. She learned about things he blamed himself for that she couldn’t see how they could be his fault. She learned what he liked and what he hated; from simple things, like his reading or dessert preferences, to how useless and invisible he felt every time his opinions and suggestions were dismissed regardless how helpful they would be. She learned who he was and who he wasn’t, and how he saw himself.

 

    And in that outpour of information, before he finally passed out with his head on her chest, Brigit realised something. Something that scared her deeply.

 

 

    Loki awoke to a pounding in his head and the sun in his face; he let out a pained groan then waved his hand lazily at the windows, pulling the curtains closed. When the room was less unbearably lit he opened his eyes then sat up slowly, brows furrowing slightly when he noticed he was on a couch; he looked around, disoriented for a moment, before remembering the events of the previous day. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and stood, swaying slightly on his feet for a moment, then walked towards the kitchen for a much needed glass of water.

 

    “Morning,” Brigit said as soon as he walked into the room, not quite pausing what she was doing, “Hope you like french toast, ’cause I have a craving.”

 

    “I don’t really care either way,” Loki replied, going over to the sink and grabbing a glass, filling it up and draining it in one go.

 

    “Easy, huh? My type of guy,” Brigit joked with a teasing grin.

 

    “Mm; good to know,” Loki joked back as he moved to lean against the counter next to her then rubbed his temple in an attempt to ease his headache.

 

    Brigit glanced at him for a moment before plating a few slices of toast. “Want me to take care of that?” She asked as she added a few more slices to the pan.

 

    “If you wouldn’t mind,” Loki replied, trying (and not altogether succeeding) to not sound as relieved as he was for the offer.

 

    Brigit giggled a bit at the attempt then put her spatula down and turned to face him. “Here,” She said as she reached her hands to his temples before letting her power do its job.

 

    Loki let out a pleased sigh as the ache ebbed away. “Thank you,” He said sincerely.

 

    “No problem,” Brigit replied, turning back to the food, “Just don’t make it a habit; I’m not a walking hangover cure.”

 

    Breakfast was soon ready and they ate in silence. As Brigit was cleaning the dishes afterwards, Loki sat back in the living room in thought, trying to piece together everything that had happened the previous night. He knew he shouldn’t have drunk that much. He vaguely remembered telling Brigit some things, some quite embarrassing. The more he thought, the more he remembered; and the more he remembered, the more he regretted grabbing that bottle. He had told her things not even Frigga had known. Things that could damn him if she ever told them to anyone else, especially Thor.

 

    Loki sprung to his feet and went back to the kitchen, summoning his dagger along the way. Brigit’s back was toward him and she was fully concentrated on the dishes, humming lightly as she worked. It would be so easy; one quick stab and the problem would disappear. He could even make it painless if he got it just right.

 

    Loki closed the rest of the distance, placing a hand on Brigit’s shoulder as he reached her...


	7. Chapter 7

    After how their last meeting had ended; Steve hadn’t really expected to hear from Tony for the next ten years at least. He had hoped he would, sure, but he hadn’t expected it. So it came as no small surprise to hear his ((sort of) former) teammate’s voice on the other end of the phone; even more of a surprise to hear him say ‘I screwed up’ when asked the reason for the call. Tony hadn’t given any real specifics, just that it involved Brigit (which immediately put Steve on alert _and_ pissed him off), a powerful artefact they barely understood (no real surprise there, if he was honest), and Loki.

 

    That last bit had him rushing to suit up in record time.

 

    _His_ record.

 

    Along the way Steve asked Tony to give him a full rundown of the situation, and then spent a good ten minutes berating and yelling at the billionaire for involving the _very much retired_ former Avenger in anything involving _Loki,_ of all things. Tony had tried to shift _some_ of the blame away from himself by pointing out that it had been Thor’s idea to call Brigit in, but the god interjected to say he only intended her to question Loki and nothing more.

 

    “You shouldn’t have called her,” Steve said angrily, “And you _definitely_ shouldn’t have asked her to go with him. Dammit; did you forget why she left?”

 

    “No, I didn’t forget,” Tony snapped, “I’ll never forget. But she’s not a kid, Steve; I thought she could handle herself.”

 

    “She _can,”_ Steve said firmly, “But this is _Loki_ we’re talking about. She wasn’t in New York; she has no idea what he’s capable of.” He breathed deeply and exhaled slowly. “You shouldn’t have called her,” He repeated tiredly.

 

    Tony had no idea where to look, which was why he’d called Steve in the first place, since he knew Brigit far better than anyone else; his reasoning was that Loki wouldn’t go anywhere where Thor might find him, so he’d get her to choose someplace the god wouldn’t think to look, and that she might pick somewhere Steve would know about.

 

    Steve could think of a few places; they had quite a few secret nooks and corners where they would meet sometimes when either of them felt overwhelmed by their surroundings. He crossed off the more obvious ones; semi-public places that Loki would quickly realise were traps, and the most secluded places with too few exits where she’d be cornered. That narrowed it down to a few places, though still more than he thought he had time to check. He would just have to make a guess and hope it was the right one.

 

 

    Brigit felt a hand on her shoulder, close to her neck, and she sucked in a sharp breath and, berating herself for dropping her guard so completely, braced herself for the pain that would follow.

 

    One heartbeat...

 

    Two...

 

    Nothing.

 

    She looked over her shoulder to see Loki standing there staring back at her. She could feel the tip of his dagger just barely touching her back, but his hand had stilled.

 

    One heartbeat...

 

    Two...

 

    Three...

 

    The dagger fell to the floor with a loud clatter and Loki stepped back, not taking his eyes off of her, until his back met the wall. He looked down and slid to the floor, bringing his knees up to his chest and hugging them tightly.

 

    One heartbeat...

 

    Two...

 

    Brigit walked towards him, sitting down beside him and draping her arm over his shoulders. He shuddered and began to shake slightly and she pretended she couldn’t hear his quiet sobs. She squeezed his shoulder once, to reassure him she was there.

 

    One heartbeat...

 

    He shifted, turning towards her and burying his face in her chest, wrapping his arms around her waist tightly. She pretended it didn’t hurt a little. His shudders became more pronounced, his crying less subdued. She pretended her heart wasn’t breaking.

 

    She pretended she didn’t love him.

 

 

    It was late afternoon when Steve finally stood outside Brigit’s house. It was a fairly modest place, smaller than her previous home, but he knew from their conversations after she’d left the team that it was better that way. Less space meant fewer reminders of what she’d lost; what had almost been. He walked up the path to the front door and picked up the spare key she kept in a hidden compartment under the left-side window that only they knew about; he unlocked the door as quietly as he could manage then stepped inside.

 

    Steve moved cautiously, senses trained to notice the slightest disturbance, only to stop dead at the kitchen door. He had seen many things in his life, some he truly wished he hadn’t, but the scene before him now was definitely new; Brigit was sitting on the floor with her back against the wall and her legs stretched out in front of her, staring off at nothing with Loki curled up beside her, apparently asleep, with his head on her lap. She was running her fingers through his hair absently in a soothing manner, and Steve got the impression that had been going on for some time.

 

    He took a step forward and Brigit’s honey eyes snapped towards him, widening a fraction when she saw who he was, and she frowned a bit.

 

    “Tony called you, didn’t he?” She asked softly, not wanting to wake Loki.

 

    Steve nodded. “He’s worried about you,” He said just as softly, earning a quiet snort.

 

    “Not enough to leave me alone.”

 

    “Bri; what’s going on?” Steve asked, taking another step towards her, “Because I gotta say, this looks pretty bad.”

 

    “That’s rich coming from _you,_ captain,” Brigit replied with a slight laugh.

 

    “That’s different; I _knew_ Bucky,” Steve said then pointed at Loki, “You don’t know _him.”_

 

    Brigit gave him a sad smile. “That’s where you’re wrong, Steve,” She said heavily, “I know him _too_ well.”

 

    “How?”

 

    “Remember that bet you helped me win, against Thor?” Brigit asked, receiving a nod, “We drank, like, half of the prize last night. And now I know things I shouldn’t.”

 

    Steve let out a sigh. “He didn’t kidnap you, did he?” He asked, though he already knew the answer.

 

    “I’m in trouble, Steve,” Brigit whispered shakily, an errant tear slipping down her cheek.

 

    Another sigh and a sympathetic look. He knew _exactly_ what she meant by that. “We’ll work through it,” He said, taking one more step, “I promise.”

 

 

    Loki awoke to another headache, although this time he knew exactly what had caused it. For a long while, he kept his eyes closed; he didn’t want to risk her still being near, not after what he’d done. A few more seconds, a single push and he would have killed her. He had been ready to do it.

 

    Until he wasn’t.

 

    In the end he just couldn’t go through with it. It simply wasn’t her fault, none of it; she had been as uninvolved as anyone could be until he’d dragged her into it, all because he was curious. Except, he had to admit, reluctant as he was; that hadn’t been the reason. She did intrigue him as their first meeting progressed, but that wasn’t why he brought her with him. The reality was far simpler...

 

    Loki brushed the thought aside and opened his eyes to find himself in what he assumed was Brigit’s bedroom. He wondered as he sat up, pushing the covers aside, how she’d brought him there; he was pretty sure she wasn’t strong enough to carry him, unless that was another of her powers she hadn’t mentioned. He stood and made his way to the door, poking his head out into the hallway to find it deserted; silently, he walked out and into the bathroom a little further down the hall. He closed the door behind him and turned on the light, looking at his reflection in the mirror above the sink, he frowned; he looked as tired and miserable as he felt at the moment. He turned on the sink and quickly washed his face before weaving his usual illusions, hiding his tiredness and the dullness of his eyes.

 

    Hiding everything that was wrong.

 

    Walking down the hall he heard a pair of voices speaking in hushed tones and was immediately alert, ready for a fight. He came into the living room to find Brigit and Rogers sitting on the couch, their conversation ceasing as they turned to look at him.

 

    “Well; that didn’t take very long,” Loki said with a lightness to his voice Brigit knew was completely false, “Though I must admit I’m a bit surprised; I thought you were in hiding?”

 

    “I was,” Steve replied, “But I can’t ignore when my friends are in trouble.”

 

    “And so you’ve come to save the damsel in distress, have you?” Loki asked somewhat mockingly.

 

    Steve looked at Brigit, and it was then that Loki noticed she seemed troubled, and then back at him. “I’m here to help,” He replied seriously.


	8. Chapter 8

    Loki blinked, surprise colouring his features for an instant, and then he regarded Rogers with no small amount of scepticism and suspicion. Surely he had misheard.

 

    “Now why would _you_ help _me_ of all people?” Loki asked, crossing his arms over his chest and narrowing his eyes at the soldier.

 

    “I’m not,” Steve replied, “I’m helping _her.”_

 

    Loki’s eyes flicked to Brigit, who pointedly avoided his gaze. “I see,” He said, “And this extends to me, how, exactly?”

 

    “It just does,” Brigit replied to Steve’s shoulder, choosing not to elaborate.

 

    “Well; first things first,” Steve began then stood up and reached down to the coffee table where Loki had left the staff, picking it up warily, “We need to get rid of this thing; Tony’s not going to stop looking while it’s still with us.”

 

    “I don’t think we should give it back,” Brigit said slowly, eyes on the staff, “That’s a lot of power, and not the most responsible hands.”

 

    “Why do you think I took it?” Loki said, causing them to look at him, Steve in surprise, “You’d think after the Tesseract they would have learned.”

 

    “You know what they were doing with it?” Steve asked.

 

    Loki breathed a laugh. “Nothing good,” He replied.

 

    “What does it even do, anyway?” Brigit asked, “Besides opening portals, I mean.”

 

    “Oh, you misunderstand; it doesn’t do that at all,” Loki replied, walking over to stand in front of Steve, who tensed slightly, “It’s actually quite useless by itself. Powerful, yes, but useless; much like an unlit candle, or an unarmed bomb.”

 

    “So it needs to be activated by something?” Steve asked, taking his eyes off Loki to examine the staff.

 

    “Exactly,” Loki replied.

 

    “By what?” Brigit asked, standing up and going up to Steve.

 

    “Magick, mostly,” Loki replied, “But, really, any energy with intent; it’s not very picky.”

 

    “So when you used it to teleport you both; it was just responding to your intention,” Steve concluded, looking up at Loki again.

 

    “You’re smarter than I gave you credit for, Captain,” Loki said somewhat amusedly.

 

    “... I’m going to choose to ignore that.” Steve replied flatly then turned back to the staff, “Well; we’re not giving it back to be misused, but that still leaves the question of what we _are_ going to do with it.”

 

    “You could always just leave it with me,” Loki suggested lightly.

 

    “No!” Brigit and Steve said at the same time with a glare in his direction.

 

    “Try to take over a realm _once_...” Loki half-muttered, rolling his eyes.

 

    The corners of Brigit’s lips twitched upwards for a second before she forced them to remain neutral, and she turned to Steve. “We could stash it at the summer place,” She suggested, “At least until we have a better plan; they never found it.”

 

    “You realise that would mean that _we_ can’t go there anymore, right?” Steve asked, seeming displeased by the idea.

 

    “I know, hon,” Brigit replied, “But everywhere else is too risky.”

 

    “What is this ‘summer place’?” Loki asked curiously.

 

    “Nothing _you_ need to know about,” Steve replied firmly, “For more reasons than I care to count.”

 

    “Steve, relax,” Brigit cut in, placing a calming hand on his arm before turning to Loki, “It’s just a getaway. It’s private, out of the way but not obviously so.”

 

    Loki gave it some thought. “That could work. Temporarily, at least,” He said, nodding, “But they will still look, and I rather doubt, in the event that they _do_ find us, they’ll simply accept that the staff is gone.”

 

    “No; which is why we’ll give it to them,” Brigit said casually, “Or the next best thing, anyway.”

 

    “You read my mind,” Loki said with a smirk then held his hand out and concentrated, weaving his seidr into creating an identical, perfectly useless, replica of the staff. “They won’t be able to tell the difference until it’s far too late,” He declared, clearly proud of his work.

 

    “Well; that’s useful,” Steve commented, impressed, and Loki grinned widely.

 

    “Alright; don’t let it go to your head,” Brigit said half-jokingly, “Goodness knows you don’t need a bigger ego.”

 

    “Now, where’s the fun in humility?” Loki replied then turned to Steve. “I’m going to need that,” He said, gesturing to the staff and receiving a suspicious look that he rolled his eyes at, “We need a portal; how else do you expect us to get this done?”

 

    Steve hesitated for a moment then reluctantly handed Loki the staff, receiving a mostly sarcastic ‘thank you’. Once he had a destination in mind, Loki aimed the staff’s gem at the nearest doorway and willed it to open a portal that would stay open long enough for them to step through whenever they were ready. He then placed a cloaking spell over the staff for when they were too far apart for his own shield to remain before placing it back in Steve’s waiting hand.

 

    “Okay; I’ll hide this thing then come back, and then we’ll meet with Tony and end this,” Steve said then turned to Brigit, placing a hand on her shoulder and squeezing lightly. “Be careful,” He said meaningfully.

 

    “When am I not?” Brigit replied with a somewhat doleful smile.

 

    With that, Steve turned and left; calling back that he’d be back as soon as possible. Brigit stood there for a moment, ignoring the fact that Loki was staring at her as though she were a very interesting puzzle, before cheerfully declaring that she was hungry and walking ( _not_ fleeing) into the kitchen. She was halfway through making pasta primavera when Loki walked in and sat at the table.

 

    After they had eaten Brigit distracted herself with cleaning the dishes while Loki retreated back to the living room; when she was done she joined him, sitting at the other end of the couch, and the silence hung heavily between them for a long while.

 

    Unable to take it anymore, Brigit shifted in her seat to face Loki. “My mother died in childbirth,” She said suddenly, getting his attention, “And my father never really forgave me for it.”

 

    “What was there to forgive? That was hardly your fault,” Loki said incredulously.

 

    Brigit stared at him for a moment, eyebrow raised. “You do see the irony of _you_ saying that; right?” She asked slowly.

 

    Loki frowned and looked away for a moment, but said nothing. “Why are you telling me this?” He asked instead.

 

    “When I was ten, I woke up to a roomful of glowing orbs, and my _very brown_ hair was white and my eyes were glowing,” She said, ignoring his question completely, “After that, my dad went from ignoring or belittling me to calling me a freak and treating me like a rabid animal. I had a few accidents while I was trying to learn to control my powers, so it wasn’t long before other people knew about them and joined him. Fast forward a few years, and people start showing up wanting to ‘study’ me, or just flat out use me; I learned not to trust anyone.

 

    I got used to being alone, because the alternative was having to deal with people treating me like I was this dangerous _thing_ that had to be contained or destroyed. And then, about eight years ago, I met Amaia, and suddenly everything changed,” She looked over at one of the photos of the two of them on the shelf with a sad smile, “She had this way of just... knocking down every wall I put up without any effort. She showed me what it was like to be truly _alive,_ in ways I never even imagined were possible. She was the one who convinced me to join the Avengers; said that ‘the world needs as many heroes as it can get’... And then she died, and suddenly nothing seemed worth it anymore,” Brigit finished, looking back at Loki.

 

    “They tend to have that effect,” Loki said sympathetically, remembering his own losses, “Though it seems to me your wife did not leave you alone; the soldier clearly cares for you deeply.”

 

    Brigit huffed a slight laugh. “Steve’s like the mom and brother I never had,” She said fondly, “I wouldn’t be alive right now if it wasn’t for him.”

 

    “Why was he so concerned about you?” Loki asked, “Because I have a feeling it wasn’t that he thought I would hurt you; else he wouldn’t have left you with me.”

 

    Brigit looked down at her lap, fiddling with the hem of her shirt. “Because he knows...” She said quietly.

 

    “Knows what?”

 

    Brigit was silent for a moment then looked up at him with a conflicted expression. “I’m pretty sure I’m starting to love you,” She replied, “And I’m nothing short of terrified of where that could lead.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This turned a bit darker than I had originally intended. Not sure how that happened... Try to bear with me, I guess.

    Loki wasn’t sure what to say to Brigit’s confession, or really what to even think of it. Part of him wanted to brush it off as unlikely; they barely knew each other, after all. How could she possibly start to love someone she didn’t know?

 

    _But she_ does _know you,_ A voice at the back of his mind interjected, _You gave her everything she needed. Why else do you think she bothered to be there after you nearly killed her?_

 

    He had to admit it was true; she quite literally knew his life better than anyone now. He’d given her nearly all of it; centuries of memories, feelings and thoughts were laid bare for her judgment. All the weapons she could ever need to destroy him, and in that moment he decided to drop his dagger he gave her the chance to do so. He didn’t even regret it. In fact, in that moment, he _welcomed_ it.

 

    Instead, she embraced him. She bore the weight and accepted it, and the simple truth was that he didn’t know what to do with that. Why would he? Everyone who’d ever been there for him was long gone; by another’s hand or his own. He’d been alone long enough to get used to it and forget how it felt not to be, thought there were few things that scared him more than his own loneliness. Maybe that’s why he’d been so drawn to her in the first place. Maybe that’s why she stayed. Maybe...

 

    Loki took a deep breath and looked away. “I see...” He said at length, voice neutral, as he looked back at her, “Well, that certainly _is_ concerning.”

 

    _Maybe you’re an even bigger fool than Thor could ever be,_ The voice in his mind hissed, but he shoved it back down harshly.

 

    Brigit turned back in her seat and stared off at the far wall. “Yeah, well; my mistake,” She replied blankly, and Loki just barely succeeded in not wincing.

 

 

    When Steve returned he could tell something was off between them but said nothing, not really trusting anything Loki might say and knowing that if Brigit was upset with the god she wouldn’t breathe a word of it until he was gone. He had a fairly good idea of what might have happened, in any case.

 

    “So where exactly does this lead?” He asked Loki.

 

    “What?” Loki asked back in surprise.

 

    “The portal,” Steve clarified.

 

    “Oh,” Loki said, sounding relieved, before schooling his expression back to practiced stoicism, “Somewhere our... _mutual acquaintances_ will not miss. We’ve been there before; I believe it was called ‘Central Park’. It should be about morning there now, if my grasp of the time difference is accurate.”

 

    “It’s Sunday; there’s going to be a lot of civilians there,” Steve said, clearly displeased by the idea.

 

    “And I mean them no harm,” Loki replied, rolling his eyes, “Do you truly think so little of me, Captain?”

 

    “Considering the first time I saw you, you were about to kill an old man for not kneeling to you...” Steve replied seriously.

 

    Loki’s mask cracked for a second, a flash of regret showing before he reigned it back in, but he could tell they both saw it. “That was then,” He said blankly then walked up to the portal and looked at them over his shoulder, “Shall we?”

 

    Without waiting, he stepped through, leaving a rather confused Steve staring after him before turning to Brigit, who shrugged then followed the Trickster. Steve shook his head after a moment then walked up to the portal, staring at it warily before stepping through. On the other side he discovered that Loki had opened the portal in the middle of some trees where it was unlikely a casual wanderer would find it.

 

    “Alright, before I call Tony; how are we going to play this?” Steve asked.

 

    “You’ll fight me and lose, and I get away,” Loki replied matter-of-factly, “Is that not how it usually goes?”

 

    “Didn’t last time,” Brigit reminded a bit more sharply than she intended.

 

    “I’ve nothing to distract me this time,” Loki retorted coolly.

 

    “Okay; this isn’t going to work,” Steve interjected, “Whatever’s going on here; work it out, because I need you both to focus.”

 

    “I’m perfectly focused,” Loki snapped.

 

    _Liar,_ The voice in his mind accused, and he shoved it back down.

 

    “Really?” Steve asked sceptically, “Then what exactly are you arguing with yourself about?”

 

    Loki blinked. “Pardon?” He said, caught completely off guard by the other’s perceptiveness.

 

    “Look; I may not know you,” Steve said, his expression turning strangely sympathetic, “But I know perfectly well what it looks like when someone’s mind is pulling them in opposite directions.”

 

    Loki looked away. “It’s not your concern,” He said at length.

 

    “Probably not,” Steve agreed, “But maybe I want it to be.”

 

    Loki looked back at him oddly. “Why would you?” He asked, “Are we not enemies?”

 

    “ _Are_ we?” Steve asked back.

 

    For a moment, it seemed that Loki forgot how to speak; his infamous Silvertongue heavy and utterly useless to him. “What else _could_ you be to one like me?” He said finally, and there was no mistaking the hint of sadness tinting his voice.

 

    “I think you might be surprised,” Steve replied, his thoughts partially elsewhere.

 

    “Maybe in another life, Captain,” Loki said with a smile that was barely forced.

 

 

    It didn’t take much to grab Stark’s attention; which was not very surprising considering he had most of his considerable resources pointed towards finding the smallest trace of Loki and his ‘captive’. Before long, a large portion of Central Park was deserted and they stood facing the Iron Man and Thor.

 

    “Alright, Loki; time to end this,” Tony said, “Hand over the staff and come quietly, and we _might_ not hurt you _too_ badly.”

 

    “Not even _a word_ of concern for your former comrades, Stark? No _wonder_ they left,” Loki taunted.

 

    “Brother, enough,” Thor interjected tiredly, “Surrender the staff and let us return home. You cannot run forever.”

 

    “Easy for you to say when you don’t have to,” Loki spat bitterly.

 

    “I promised you revenge against the dark elves, and then your cell,” Thor said firmly, “You need to accept your punishment.”

 

    For a moment Loki looked surprised, and then angry, until suddenly he started laughing, a humourless laugh that bordered on hysterical. “Is _that_ what you think awaits me on Asgard?” He managed after a while, “You fool. You naïve fool. You have no idea what he’s done, do you?”

 

    “What do you mean?” Thor asked, more than a little startled by his brother’s behaviour.

 

    Loki grinned, a disturbingly hollow and slightly manic gesture that only deepened Thor’s concern. He spread his arms wide in a grand gesture and used his seidr to remove his shirt at the same time he let his illusions fade away, earning a shocked gasp from those around him; his chest, arms and back were littered with all manner of injuries (mostly burns, Thor noticed, feeling an icy chill run down his spine at the thought) in various stages of healing, suggesting they’d been inflicted over a period of time, and he looked as though he hadn’t had any restful sleep in quite some time. What hurt Thor the most was the look in his eyes; he had only seen that kind of emptiness in them after Frigga had died and he’d hope to never see it again.

 

    “Now you see me, brother,” Loki echoed, another stab to Thor’s heart, returning himself to his previous state, “I may deserve to go back, but you’ll have to force me.”

 

    “Well, that’s tragic, really,” Tony said, forcing his personal feelings of anger and disgust aside, “But it’s no excuse to kidnap someone.”

 

    “He didn’t,” Brigit replied before Loki could say anything.

 

    _“... What??”_ Tony asked, this time unable to keep the anger out of his voice.

 

    “Well, technically he did, considering he didn’t ask first,” Brigit amended, “But I wasn’t exactly complaining. Much.”

 

    “So you _were_ working with him,” Tony spat, “And here I was, worried about you and feeling guilty for even _considering_ you’d turned on us!”

 

    At that, anger overtook Brigit’s expression and her eyes began to glow white. “Turn on you,” She said icily, “Turn on _you?_ How _dare you._ After what you did to me; how _dare you!”_

 

    “That has nothing to do with this,” Tony said, his voice nevertheless sounding a bit subdued.

 

    “That has _everything_ to do with this!” Brigit half-yelled.

 

    “Brigit; I’m sorry!” Tony replied, “I made a mistake, and I’m sorry.”

 

    Brigit barked a humourless laugh. “‘Sorry’? You’re ‘sorry’?!” She snapped, “‘Sorry’ isn’t going to bring my wife back! My son!”

 

    At that Loki at her in shock; she hadn’t mentioned _that._ Suddenly it made sense, why she wanted this whole thing to end, and he felt even guiltier for involving her.

 

    “‘Sorry’ isn’t going to change what you did!” Brigit yelled, her voice cracking slightly, “You should have _told me!!_ I could’ve _PROTECTED THEM!!”_

 

    A long silence followed, and then Tony’s face-plate went up and he looked at Brigit remorsefully. “Brigit; if I’d had any idea how serious the threat was, I would’ve told you,” Tony said heavily, “Sorry doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel about it, and I know there’s nothing I can do to make it up to you, but if there was I’d do it in a heartbeat.”

 

    “I know,” Brigit said, walking over to Loki and taking the fake staff from him. She walked halfway toward Tony and tossed it at him before backing away to stand next to Loki again. “And that’s the only reason I don’t completely hate you anymore,” She added somewhat tonelessly.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter, but it's not the end of the story. ;-)

    With the staff once more in their possession (as far as they knew), the objective remained of what to do about Loki, and Thor found himself conflicted. He did think his brother had to pay for his crimes, but what he’d seen before him was not what he had in mind. A number of lashes were standard for at least half the things he’d done, but Thor knew exactly what fire did to frost giants and Odin obviously knew as well; to think he’d knowingly have that done to his own son...

 

    No, Thor decided; he was not going to subject his brother to that again, consequences be damned.

 

    “Go,” Thor said, and Loki blinked.

 

    “What?” He asked in shock.

 

    “Go,” Thor repeated.

 

    For a moment Loki said nothing, not entirely sure what to think. “He won’t stop looking,” He said at last.

 

    “Likely not,” Thor agreed sombrely before regarding his brother with a wistful smile, “But you always were the better of us at hiding.”

 

    “You sure about this?” Tony spoke up.

 

    “Aye,” Thor replied, “Father is wrong; this isn’t the way.”

 

    “Yeah; agreed,” Tony said, unable to dissociate himself from his views on torture any longer, and then turned his attention to Loki, “Don’t mistake my empathy to mean I’m not going to kick your ass if you try anything on this planet again, alright?”

 

    “Wouldn’t dream of it,” Loki replied with the wolfish smile they were more familiar with.

 

    “Good,” Tony said. He looked at Brigit but quickly looked away, unable to meet her gaze. “I’m sorry, Bri,” He said guiltily, “For everything.”

 

    “Try not to get yourself killed, asshole,” Brigit replied wryly, “Someone might actually miss you.”

 

    Tony huffed a slight laugh and then saluted to Steve, who returned the gesture, dropped his face-plate and flew off with the fake staff in his hand. Thor stood there for a moment, unsure, and then made his way over to them, standing before Loki, who regarded him a bit warily.

 

    “Where will you go?” He asked.

 

    “It’s better you don’t know,” Loki replied, “For _both_ our sakes.”

 

    “But you _do_ have someplace, don’t you?” Thor asked, concerned.

 

    “I’ll improvise,” Loki replied then smirked almost playfully, “Another thing I was always better at.”

 

    Thor chuckled a bit before his expression turned serious. “Brother, I am sorry,” He said remorsefully, “I didn’t think...”

 

    “Do you ever?” Loki teased with a snort, causing Thor to roll his eyes. “I was told you knew, but you just didn’t care anymore,” Loki added, looking into Thor’s eyes seriously, “I never believed it, deep down.”

 

    “You’ve always known me better than I know myself,” Thor replied fondly, “Even if you’re too stubborn to see it.” He reached up a hand and cradled the back of Loki’s neck. “I have always and will always love you, brother,” He said seriously, “Remember that.”

 

    “I can’t make any promises,” Loki replied honestly, “But I’ll try.”

 

    “Good,” Thor said then stepped back and turned to Brigit, “Until next time, sister; I’ll try to call sometime.”

 

    “You damn well better,” Brigit warned good-naturedly before walking up to him and jumping up to hug him tightly, causing him to laugh as he hugged back.

 

 

    After saying his goodbyes to Steve, Thor left. They stood there for a moment, before Steve had asked Loki and Brigit where they were going to go. Brigit’s first response was to go back to her house but then changed her mind, not really wanting to be alone with her thoughts; and Loki simply wasn’t sure, though he wouldn’t admit his reasons were much the same. In the end Steve offered them a place and they both agreed.

 

    The flight there was made in silence at first, with Steve piloting and Brigit and Loki in the hold on opposite seats, and then Loki cleared his throat slightly to get Brigit’s attention. “You didn’t tell me you were a mother,” He said when she looked at him.

 

    “Technically I wasn’t, yet,” Brigit replied softly, “Mai was six month’s pregnant.”

 

    Loki drew in a sharp breath. “I’m sorry,” He offered and she smiled faintly in thanks, “May I ask... How was Stark responsible?”

 

    “He wasn’t... exactly,” Brigit replied, sitting up straighter, “We were going after someone big, and he really didn’t think they were in serious danger. Tony’s an ass, but he’s not a sociopath. Didn’t stop me from blaming him at first.”

 

    “Understandable,” Loki replied, “I admire your restraint, though; _I_ likely would have killed him.”

 

    “Oh, there was restraint, but it wasn’t mine,” Brigit replied, “Steve and Thor stopped me.” She looked down at her hands resting on her lap. “I didn’t tell you before because I’ve never been able to say it,” She confessed somewhat shakily, tears filling her eyes, “Five years, and I’ve never said it aloud.”

 

    A sob escaped her, and on instinct Loki stood and walked over to her, pulling her into his arms. That was all it took for Brigit to let loose all the pain she’d been bottling up, releasing it in sobs that racked her whole body in shudders as she clung to him much like he had done before. And like she had done for him, Loki simply held her in silence, reassuring her that she wasn’t alone, keeping his arms around her long after her tears finally dried.

 

    “Do you know about surrogacy?” Brigit asked, breaking the silence, her voice a bit hoarse from her crying.

 

    “I’ve read of it, yes,” Loki replied, pausing momentarily from running the fingers of one hand through her hair.

 

    “We were going to have two kids,” Brigit continued, “She was going to carry mine and then I would carry hers; she said that way they’d really be both of ours.”

 

    “That is... strangely adorable,” Loki said.

 

    “Which perfectly described _her,”_ Brigit replied with a slight laugh, “She was so excited, telling me every little thing that happened. And she could not keep a secret; I wanted the sex to be a surprise but she couldn’t wait that long, and then she accidentally blurted it out to me the moment I got back from a mission.”

 

    Loki chuckled. “In her defence, I probably wouldn’t have been able to hold that back either,” He said, “And I’m the God of Lies.”

 

    “Yeah, I guess that wasn’t a fair expectation,” Brigit replied.

 

    There was silence for a while, Loki’s fingers resuming their course through Brigit’s hair, causing her to doze a little. “I don’t know what to do with you, Brigit,” Loki said softly, using her real name for the first time.

 

    “I don’t know what to do with you either,” Brigit mumbled sleepily.

 

 

    When they arrived to their destination Steve went on ahead, wanting to prepare Clint for Loki’s impending presence. It took quite a bit of convincing, but eventually the archer was dissuaded from trying to murder the god; though he did stay far, _far_ away from him. They met the rest of the team and Brigit immediately clicked with Wanda while Loki kept his distance from all of them. After a while, though, Loki found himself staring at Bucky. Bucky looked up to meet his gaze and his brows furrowed.

 

    “What?” He asked, somewhat uncomfortable with the intensity of the god’s stare.

 

    Instead of replying, Loki stood and walked over to him then raised a hand, which was faintly glowing with a green aura, and placed two fingers on Bucky’s forehead, surprising him.

 

    “What the hell are you doing?!” Bucky asked as he ducked away, causing the others to stop what they were doing and look over.

 

    “Fixing you,” Loki replied simply.

 

    _“What?”_ Bucky asked, perplexed.

 

    Loki sighed patiently. “There’s something broken in your mind,” He replied, “I’m fixing it.”

 

    “You can _do_ that?” Steve asked, sounding surprised and a little hopeful.

 

    “Of course,” Loki replied a little defensively, “It’s not that difficult; I’ve already fixed worse.”

 

    “On who?” Clint asked sceptically from the other side of the room.

 

    Loki hesitated, not really wanting to share that with so many, but the look on Bucky’s face told him he probably wouldn’t trust him otherwise. “... On me.” He finally replied guardedly.

 

    Clint opened his mouth then closed it and looked away, not sure what to make of that piece of information. Loki went back to ignoring him and turned back to Bucky, silently asking for permission to continue. Bucky thought about it for a moment then nodded, figuring he really didn’t have much to lose in trying. Loki placed his fingers on Bucky’s forehead again and concentrated, sifting through the mess Hydra left behind until he reached what he was after. Bucky hissed in pain and Loki quietly apologised; after a moment (and several colourful words from the sergeant) Loki pulled his hand back, declared he was finished, and then turned and left the room without another word.

 

 

    Loki stood out on a balcony, taking in the view, when he sensed someone behind him. He looked over his shoulder as Brigit walked up to stand beside him, leaning against the rail and staring out ahead. They said nothing for a time, neither really sure where to begin.

 

    “I don’t want you to love me,” Loki finally said.

 

    “I know,” Brigit replied, looking over at him.

 

    “I don’t want to be alone,” He added softly, as though afraid anyone else would hear.

 

    “I know,” Brigit repeated.

 

    “I can’t lose anyone else,” Loki said, finally looking at her.

 

    “I know,” Brigit said again, barely above a whisper.

 

    They said nothing more, going back to looking out at the horizon. Neither of them knew which one reached for the other’s hand; they simply accepted in silence how... _right_ it felt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay; so I couldn't resist fixing Bucky's mind. I like the guy, and I don't want him to stay as a popsicle. So sue me. XD
> 
> I'll try to get working on the sequel later this week, but it's a bit of a busy one for me and I might try to work on some of my other stories first.


End file.
